Those who attack women should be brought to justice: UN

As four convicts in the Dec 16 gang-rape of a young woman were Friday sentenced to death, the UN said though it was against capital punishment, perpetrators of crimes against women should be brought to justice.

“While the UN does not support capital punishment, perpetrators of crimes against women must be brought to justice,” Rebecca Reichmann Tavares, representative, UN Women’s office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka, said in a statement.

She said evidence from across the world suggested that higher conviction rates served as a deterrent to violence.

“We therefore call on the government of India to do everything in its power to ensure speedy justice for survivors of violence, especially those from marginalised communities,” she said.

The Dec 16, 2012 incident in Delhi was the tipping point that has brought attention to violence against women not only in India but globally.

Many progressive reforms and changes had resulted in the anti-rape law after the incident but laws by themselves were not the solution – their implementation also mattered as did changing mindsets, it said.